The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the federal government have rolled out a regional awareness and sensitization campaign on the importance of Codex Alimentarius standards and codes of practice for food safety.
The aim is to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the international food trade by educating the key stakeholders on the importance of the food safety standards and codes.
A statement signed by FAO Communications Specialist in Nigeria, David Tsokar, on Friday said first in the line was Kano state followed by Lagos state, in which farmers, processors, marketers as well as journalists and other key stakeholders in the food value chain in Nigeria participated.
Established by FAO and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure the safety, quality and fairness in international food trade, the ‘Food Code’, is a collection of international standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
During the awareness raising workshop both in Kano and Lagos states, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Onakhire, who chairs the National Codex Committee (NCC), highlighted the issues of food safety practices to participants, and advised them to pay attention to quality and standards in food production and processing, to ease trade facilitation, especially at the international markets.
The NCC membership in Nigeria is made up of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Private sector, All Farmers Association, Research Institutes and the Food Industry.
The Minister represented at both occasions by John Atanda the National Coordinator, Food Safety and Quality Programme in the ministry said, the government is making conscious efforts to “ensure safe food supplies in Nigeria to support the national economy, trade and tourism to contribute to food security and nutrition of the people in order to guarantee sustainable social and economic development in the country as well as international food trade”.
Onakhire pointed out that little or no attention was given to the issue of safety practice, quality and standards in food production, processing and trading and that it was high time to take the message down to the grassroots for wider awareness.
The Director General of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim, harped on the need for enhanced synergy between regulatory agencies, the private sector and research institutes to continually contribute to the efforts for ensuring food safety in Nigeria.
He was represented in Kano by the Head of Mandatory Assessment Programme (MANCAP) Mrs. Tosan Akosile and in Lagos by the Director South-west Operations Mrs. Yeside Akinlabi.
On her part, the Codex Contact point in Nigeria Mrs. Talatu Ethan, said as many other countries are striving to improve their food systems, there is need for Nigerian farmers and Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) to also toe the line, “by understanding and implementing codex requirements, to avoid issues that might arise from food safety and quality necessities, especially in relation to exports or international trade”.
FAO Representative in Nigeria and to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Fred Kafeero, represented by the project’s Focal Point, Mrs. SaAdiya Haliru, noted that food safety is an essential path to sustainable food security and can be attained by establishing workable food safety control systems that conforms to international food standards.
Among the recommendations made at both workshop venues were, the need to replicate similar awareness programme at the local levels and possibly have the Information, Education, and communication (IEC) materials (handbooks produced by FAO) interpreted or/and translated into different local languages for distribution; and also include Journalists in the membership of NCC to effectively assist in the dissemination of information as well as creation of awareness on Codex activities to the larger population.
